Washington employee benefits your team values, with strategies that help you compete.
Attract and retain top talent with creative, cost-conscious solutions that go beyond the traditional broker approach, for Washington employers with 5 to 500 employees.
Benefit Experts is the Washington State employee benefits brokerage of Washington Insurance Brokers LLC, based in Auburn, WA.
Expert advice. Tailored solutions. Better benefits.
Three lines of coverage, one point of contact.
Most employers come to us for group medical and find out they were leaving the rest on the table.
Employee Benefits
Group medical, dental, vision, life and disability, level-funded plans and voluntary coverage for your team.
Explore benefits →02Business Services
Employee education, the Employee Navigator platform, benefit booklets, compliance services and help finding a COBRA administrator, all included with our broker services. A COBRA administrator bills its own fee.
Explore services →03Life Insurance
Term, whole life, final expense and key person coverage for owners, partners and their families.
Explore life →The four things employers tell us.
None of these are dealbreakers. They are just the reasons benefits get put off another year.
“We can’t afford benefits.”
That is exactly the conversation worth having. There are ways to provide basic coverage at low cost, and voluntary benefits that can cost the company nothing while reducing FICA tax. The review is free, so finding out costs you an hour.
“We’re happy with our current broker.”
Good. Plenty of employers are not. The common complaints are renewal rates that land days before the deadline, no enrollment platform, no employee education, and all the paperwork left with HR. If none of that sounds familiar, keep them.
“Switching sounds disruptive.”
Switching brokers does not change your plan, your carrier, or your employees’ cards. We notify the prior broker and the carriers, and we run the employee education and enrollment. In most cases your team notices nothing except better answers to their questions. How switching works.
“Level-funded sounds risky.”
It is not right for every business. Where a group qualifies, stop-loss coverage caps the downside, rates stay fixed through the plan year, and unused claims funding can come back at year end. See how level-funded plans work.
A benefits review, start to finish.
Four steps, in this order. Most groups are through the first three inside of a few weeks.
Discovery
We look at your current plan, your census and demographics, your budget, and what your employees have actually been asking for.
Market shop
We quote across Washington carriers and bring back real comparisons, including level-funded and voluntary options that often go unmentioned.
Education & enrollment
We hold group and one-on-one employee meetings, in person or virtual, give employees a benefit booklet to keep, and run enrollment on Employee Navigator. HR does not inherit the paperwork.
Year-round service
Claims questions, ID cards, new hires, terminations, compliance dates. You get a licensed contact all year, not a renewal email.
What comes with working with us.
All of this is part of our broker services, paid through carrier commissions already built into your premium. There is no separate fee from us.
Employee education
Group meetings and one-on-one employee meetings, in person or virtual, for open enrollment and for new hires.
Employee education →Employee Navigator platform
Online enrollment and benefits administration your employees and HR team use all year, with paper and in-person options still available.
Benefits enrollment →Benefit booklets
A plain-language booklet of your plans, employee costs, how to enroll and who to call, for every employee to keep.
Compliance services
Help with the notices, documents and filings that come with offering benefits, including a free ACA compliance checkup.
Compliance →Help finding a COBRA administrator
We help you choose a professional COBRA administrator and coordinate with them. The administrator bills its own fee, and we show it to you first.
COBRA →Market comparison and service
Quotes across Washington carriers at every renewal, and a licensed contact for claims, ID cards and changes all year.
Employee benefits →Where the savings usually are.
Level-funded health plans
A middle path between fully insured and self-funded. Qualifying groups pay a fixed monthly amount, stop-loss coverage caps the downside, rates hold steady through the plan year, and unused claims funding can be refunded. Not right for every group. We will tell you if it is not right for yours.
Voluntary benefits
Accident, critical illness, hospital indemnity, disability and more, available to groups as small as three. Employees choose and pay for what they want through payroll. The company can offer a real benefit at little or no cost and may reduce its FICA tax in the process.
We quote the whole Washington market.
Being independent means the recommendation follows your census and your budget, not a single carrier’s quota.
Carrier names and logos are the trademarks of their respective owners and are shown to identify the carriers Benefit Experts is appointed with.
Working across Washington.
In-person meetings around Puget Sound, and by phone or video anywhere in Washington.
Before you call.
What does a broker cost us?
There is no broker fee. Brokers are compensated by the insurance carrier through commissions already built into the premium. Your rate is the same whether you enroll through a broker or go direct, so the market comparison, employee education, the Employee Navigator platform, benefit booklets, compliance services and year-round service come at no additional cost to the business. COBRA is run by a third-party administrator that bills its own fee. We help you choose one and tell you the cost before you sign up.
How small a group can offer benefits?
Group medical in Washington can start with as few as one eligible common-law employee. Voluntary benefits can start at three. If you have been told you are too small to offer anything, that is worth a second opinion.
When can we switch brokers?
Any time. You are not locked to your renewal date. Changing the broker of record does not change your plan, your carrier or your employees’ coverage. It is a signed form, and we handle the notifications. See how switching brokers works.
How long does a quote take?
With a current census and your existing plan summary, most group quotes come back within a few business days. Level-funded options take longer because they require underwriting review.
Do you help our employees directly, or just us?
Both. We hold group meetings and one-on-one employee meetings, in person or virtual, give every employee a benefit booklet, answer their questions during enrollment, and remain available to them through the year for claims problems, ID cards and coverage questions.
Find out what your plan should cost.
Send over your current plan and census. We will come back with real numbers and tell you plainly if you are already in the right place.